After finishing with Log, I headed to Estella-san's office.
She was at the same desk as this morning—buried in paperwork.
Selma-san had already left.
"Estella-san—sorry to interrupt. Got a minute?"
"Nya? Oh—Orun-cchi! Done with teaching for today?"
"Yeah—first day, so I wrapped early."
"Good good. Thanks again for taking it on! So—what's up? ...Wait! Date invitation?! Oh nooo~ I'm in trouble~"
"...Sorry. Serious talk."
My tone shifted her to business mode.
"Got it. Sorry for messing around. What's the matter?"
"It's about Caroline. Tell me what you know about her past."
"...I see. Can't talk here—come with me?"
She stood and led me to a small meeting room.
"Okay—first, sorry. I wanted you to meet her without preconceptions, so I didn't explain beforehand."
Made sense—some things weren't public.
But if she planned to tell me—better early.
"Water under the bridge. Just tell me everything upfront next time. Caroline—and Logan and Sophia too. All you know."
"Got it. Then—lighter stuff first. ...Sorry to rank pasts 'heavy/light'—but bear with me. Logan's—you heard?"
"Yeah. Born in a poor village."
"Then nothing new. I only know the village pooled money to send him here for our recruitment. Next—Sophie. You know her story?"
"Not much. Why a noble kid isn't in the Academy—clueless."
"You know the system despite not being noble? Impressive for an explorer."
"Met nobles in the Hero Party. Learned bits. So—why no Academy for Sophie?"
"Hmm... I only know surface stuff. Sophie's apparently a concubine's child. Her mother died right after birth—raised in the Claudel house. But the legal wife—Selma-cchi's mom—bullied her badly. Selma-cchi adored her—things weren't *as* bad when she was home. But after Selma-cchi became an explorer and visited less—abuse worsened. When she found out—she brought Sophie here. The wife never planned Academy anyway."
Heavy stuff.
Nobles think differently—but still unpleasant.
"Finally—Caroline. Before that—know the Cyclamen Cult?"
The Cyclamen Cult—worships the legendary ultimate evil monster: the Evil God.
Aims to revive it.
Plotting to resurrect something that might not exist—already shady.
Reality: human experiments, trafficking, terrorism.
One of two major criminal organizations.
"Yeah. ...If you're bringing them up—"
"Right—your guess is probably correct. Two years ago—Guild quest. Multiple clans' elites raided one of their bases. I wasn't executive then—details fuzzy. But *Silver Rabbit* sent only Albert-san. Reports say he brought Caroline back."
So—she was rescued there?
"Seems she was kidnapped from somewhere. This mixes my speculation—but probably endured horrible treatment at the base. Given her ability..."
Disgusting.
My impression of the Cyclamen Cult was already bad.
Now—murderous.
"Whoa—Orun-cchi! Scary vibes!"
"Ah—sorry."
...Haa.
Finding out someone close suffered—and suddenly feeling this rage... hypocritical.
But now I knew their pasts.
All three carried heavy burdens.
I want to help heal their hearts too.